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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438332">Starting a New Chapter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueViolets87/pseuds/BlueViolets87'>BlueViolets87</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Legends of Tomorrow Team are Family, Mentions of Team Flash, Nostalgia, post episode 5X07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:14:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueViolets87/pseuds/BlueViolets87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray and Nora move into their new apartment and begin their lives together after leaving the Legends. Life goes on, but Ray finds it harder to move on than he anticipated.</p><p>Post ep. 5X07 (This is my way of processing Ray and Nora leaving.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nate Heywood &amp; Ray Palmer, Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer, Sara Lance &amp; Ray Palmer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Starting a New Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my tribute to Nora and Ray.</p><p>I still can't believe the showrunners decided to write Ray and Nora off, as much as I loved most of 5X07, I thought that there definitely should have been more to their decision and story. I love these two quite a bit and don't want to say goodbye to them quite yet.</p><p>I hope you enjoy this fic!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For most of their relationship, Ray refused to talk about the period when the Legends were benched. Nora had no idea what he did, who he kept in touch with or even where he lived. It wasn’t the proudest chapter of his life and he generally regarded it as the in-between period between Legend missions. And yet once he left the Waverider for good, stepping into that beautiful sunny neighborhood with Nora, he couldn’t stop hyping up his old apartment, trying to make it sound better than it was. When they finally reached the apartment, (Ray insisted on them walking to take the scenic route instead of  just teleporting straight to the door), Ray opened the door and ushered Nora in dramatically with a little proud “Voila!”</p><p>“Oh...” Nora trailed off with attempted enthusiasm. The apartment was extremely neat, other than the desk in the corner which was piled with magazines and books. There were very few pictures lining the walls and he knew she was confused by the IKEA showroom vibes. Compared to his room on the Waverider that was so full of life and small knick-knacks from various missions, it just seemed so unlike the hoarder she married. “It’s lovely, Ray.”</p><p>“I know it’s not much, but I needed some kind of address. Can’t really put the Waverider down as your address for voter registration.” He chuckled and set down his bags. “I haven't spent much time here. I usually just rent it out as an Air BnB. Do you hate it? We can move, I just thought it’d be a good starting po-”</p><p>“Hey,” Nora interrupted with a smile. “It’s great. It just means it’s a blank slate for the two of us.” She dropped one of the bags on the ground and started to dig through it. Ray smiled, just thinking about the possibilities. She deserved to have a future to actually look forward to. She deserved the absolute world. </p><p>After Ray had told her about the conversation that he had with her dad, and how he wanted to leave the Legends, Nora was originally skeptical. </p><p>“Are you sure about this, Ray? Yeah, our life isn’t perfect, but it’s still good. And the Legends are your life.”</p><p>“You’re my life too. Nora, I think it’s time.” Ray fiddled with his hands, keeping his face neutral.<br/>
“Ray is this something that you want to do, or you feel like you have to do because of what my father said? Because I refuse to leave the Waverider if he bullied you into it. He doesn’t control us.” Nora moved closer to Ray, taking his hand.</p><p>“No... I want to do this for us,” Ray confirmed. He still felt a little uneasy, but he smiled slightly. “I love you Nora and I think it’s time for our next adventure. I’ve been feeling restless for a little while now and thinking about this a lot. If I don’t do it now, I’ll just keep making excuses to stay, but I don’t want to live like that forever. The Legends will always be my family  but we all have to fly the nest at some point right?”</p><p>Nora searched his eyes for uncertainty and he tried to reassure her as much as he could. They spent another 30 minutes talking it through. He knew that she never planned on living on the ship forever (one day of the Legends bathroom routine quickly confirmed that), but knowing that she would do it for him, gave him full confidence in doing this for her.</p><p>Even now, as they stood in their new apartment together, he was still hoping they hadn’t made a mistake. Nora knelt down to one of the boxes to pull out the book of the Legends of Sir Raymond of the Palms. She placed it on the empty shelf, feeling slightly better. She then took out the hairpiece she wore in her wedding, and a picture Ray insisted on the two of them taking at Heyworld after they saved Ray. With a soft smile she placed both on the shelf as well. Soon they’d make more memories together, and she’d come to collect her own mementos.</p><p>“Do you want some tea? I’m pretty sure I have my special chamomile blend still on the shelves. I leave it for all the guests in case they need to relax. I mean traveling can be so stressful.” He started searching the shelves for a mug. “Tea doesn’t expire right?” He turned around to see Nora right in next to him, looking at him closely. She went on her toes and gently kissed him, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tight. </p><p>She pulled away with a smile. She whispered intimately, “You don’t know how happy I am to be with you here right now. I love you a lot, my husband.”</p><p>His smile grew.  “I am never going to get tired of hearing that.” He kissed her deeply again. “I love you so much, my wife. My partner. My magical main squeeze.” He cupped her chin gently, laughing a little as she wrinkled her nose at him.</p><p>“I very much veto magical main squeeze. We could do better.”</p><p>“Hm, life companion? Super spouse? Oh, the term hip honey starts to make an appearance in about 100 years. We could give it a head start,” Ray teased.</p><p>“I see someone’s gotten cocky about playing with time now that he doesn’t have to deal with fixing it. And that is just as bad as magic main squeeze. The future has no taste.” Nora joked back, sliding out of his embrace to grab a mug from behind his back. He felt his chest tighten a little but ignored it. </p><p>“Now, should we get the logistics over with before we get back to packing? We have to go over the chores wheel, grocery list and roommate agreement that I’ve been modifying from the ship... What?” Nora was staring at him with a little smirk. She gently laced her fingers between his.  </p><p>“We definitely should get to all that... but first, maybe we should take a break?” She whispered in his ear. “We don’t have to share this space with anyone else. No one to walk in, no one to hear. No one yelling about an Encore to deal with. I think we should take advantage of our situation... don’t you think Dr. Palmer?” She took a step back, still holding his hand but raising her eyebrow slightly. </p><p>Ray fake gasped. “Nora, you want to put off the organizational arts?”</p><p>“Oh yes.”</p><p>“Well, we should test out the bed...” he lowered his voice an octave. “I suppose we can wait, and push back our schedule. He kissed her teasingly. “You are the best distraction I know, Nora Darhk.”</p><p>“Thank you. I try,” she responded with another smirk. He pulled her towards the bedroom. Day one was already off to a good start.</p><p>A month went by, and the two slowly found a routine. Ray began teaching Nora how to cook on her nights off, trying recipes that he never could on the ship because of various allergies or smells that others (usually Mick or Sara) would yell at him about. Nora would often be out with a child for a few days at a time, but she usually brought Ray along until he could find a job. The kids usually responded to one of their techniques, and she doubled the number of children she could help.</p><p>After a month of restlessness, Ray received a call from Barry Allen. The team was dealing with a metahuman who could shrink like him. He took a break from helping Nora, and flew right back into the fight, eager and fresh. He had forgotten how quickly a mission with Team Flash went compared to a usual Legends mission. To be fair, they also screwed up a few times, perhaps almost to the point of defeat. However, they not only found a way out of it but also didn’t have to worry about the consequences of leaving future tech behind at a crime scene, or getting stranded in a land he wasn’t familiar with.</p><p>As soon as he got home, he started preparing lasagna. He put it in the oven, set a timer and poured his green juice into a glass, finally relaxing for a moment. Ray paused before taking a sip, remembering how Mick would call it rabbit juice, or the face Charlie made when she tried it for the first time. This juice had been with him for a long time. The crew had a bad habit of taking whatever they wanted from the fridge, and not telling everyone else when something needed to be replaced. Food fabricator or not, it was just lazy. Ray had walked in too many times on Behrad drinking straight out of the oat milk carton that he labeled as his. The green juice took some getting used to but it was nice to have something on that ship that was just his. Nora surprisingly liked the juice too, so he had to get used to sharing. He took a sip, winced a little, and swallowed it down quickly. His stomach still felt like it was turning. He hadn’t been this unsettled in a while.</p><p>Ray heard a magical pop by the door and a quick and tired greeting. As soon Nora walked into the kitchen, he tried to forget about his stomach and smile. Just smile. Her poofy godmother dress actually jingled with magic as she walked and got a layer of tulle caught in a loose nail. She tugged it free and threw her crown on the table. </p><p>“Nora! Just in time. Dinner is almost ready. How was Millie?”</p><p>“Ugh.” Nora collapsed in a chair. She quickly changed her outfit into something more comfortable.“The kid would not stop talking. But not about her actual life or any wishes, oh no, that’d be too easy. She wouldn’t shut up about My Little Pony. Five hours, Ray, that’s gotta be some kind of record. Why can’t she just wish for a damn pony like everyone else and call it a day?”</p><p>“Oh babe, you should see Pony Expo,” Ray came over to her and wrapped her in his arms. “Let me talk to her, brony to pegasister. I bet I can get through to her, push her to open up to you.”</p><p>“That would actually be great. Anyways, how was your day? I saw the Atom make an appearance on the news today. Did you have a good time?” She tilted her head up to try to look at him better.</p><p>The memories of the fight, the banter, all of his day made him pause. His stomach clenched up and he pulled away, walking back over to the oven to clean up some sauce that he spilled. “It was actually really nice. They have so much to work with over there. Cisco actually made some adjustments to my helmet so I have night vision now which is super cool... And they actually offered me a job.”</p><p>Nora’s eyes lit up. “Ray, that’s great! You’ve been saying how you’ve wanted to work with them more.”</p><p>“Yeah, I definitely have.” He tried to raise his voice to a peppier octave. He did really enjoy working with them. Star Labs facilities were incredible and he could make such a difference with the team. Cisco actually shouted “Yes!” and fist-pumped the air when Ray walked in. But they had a system. They had an innate way of working together that came with years and horrible disasters to share. There were no punchy sendoffs, just red lighting as the Flash sped off. There were no bathroom or laundry lines where they would strategize. There was no Gideon, no Time Bros, no extravagant costumes. It was just different. </p><p>God, he missed them. Ray’s eyes prickled and his face felt flushed. He was trying so hard to let it go, and move on with the good memories he had with his team. Why did moving on have to hurt so much? </p><p>Suddenly he felt a hand on his arm. “Hey, hey, hey, Ray. It’s ok...” Nora wrapped her arms around him. Ray Palmer wasn’t usually emotional like this. As much tragedy as he had, he worked very hard to keep his emotions in check. Yet, something about the way Nora began rubbing circles on his back triggered something and he couldn’t help but get choked up. A few tears fell onto his legs.</p><p>“Do you want to talk about it?” Nora asked gently. </p><p>“I miss them,” Ray croaked. His goodbye with Nate echoed in his head. “This sucks.”</p><p>“I know. I miss them too. It’s ok.”</p><p>“I really do want this life with you. And I want to work with Team Flash...”</p><p>“It's just not the same. Babe, I get it. I mean you were with the Legends for years. They’re your family. Of course it’s not going to be an easy adjustment. We can always go back if you want. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.” She pressed her forehead to his. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, breathing in her vanilla perfume.</p><p>“God, I love you.” He sniffled a little, and then laughed slightly. “I’m scared that they’re going to forget me you know? Time travel is funny like that. It becomes a bubble where you have to keep moving. You start to forget, not on purpose, but you get caught up in the moment. And even before the Legends, I was gone for six months where everyone thought I was dead and it didn’t matter. I don’t want that to happen again, not with them.” </p><p>Nora stared him straight in the eyes with so much love. “Ray Palmer, I’m sorry, but that is bullshit. I mean not the dead for six months part, but you should have seen what the Legends were like when Neron had you. They were a mess and almost destroyed the world again to get you back. They would never forget about you.”</p><p>“To be fair, Neron was destroying the world too so they kinda had to come after me.”</p><p> “Ok, well, Sara told me specifically about when they were caught in an avalanche without you and almost died. Not only did they use your tips to figure out how to get out of it, but also how to not give up hope. You touched each and every one of them. They care about you just as much as you care about them. Case closed.”</p><p>“Oh.” Ray paused. The lasagna timer began to ring, breaking the quiet moment. Ray reluctantly pulled away from Nora to turn it off. He paused for a moment before saying, “I didn’t think about that.”</p><p>“I know because you tend to forget how incredible you are. That’s what you have me for.”</p><p>“And same for you, you know. I meant what I said on the ship. I really want to start this new chapter with you and be here. I just wish they lived down the street, not in the temporal zone.”</p><p>“Uh uh uh, you’re lucky I have another charge that I’m bound to right now.” Nora winked. “How about this-- and this is a real special exception I’m suggesting, you can join us for our next book club. I’m supposed to facetime Ava with this special time phone she and Zari came up with so we can pretend to discuss Wuthering Heights.”</p><p>“That sounds great.”</p><p>“And whenever you feel homesick for the Waverider, we can call that time phone so often, they’ll be begging us to turn it off. Trust me this is not the end.”</p><p>“I guess we do still have the annual crossovers... if they show up,” Ray said, a little more lightly. </p><p>Nora hit him gently on the chest with a little laugh. “There you go. Now come on. That lasagna smells amazing. How about we eat some dinner, and can you tell me about what the hell happened with that shrinking Atom copycat today because I was so curious and so proud to see you freaking people out on the news.” She kissed him quickly before grabbing a plate. </p><p>Just as they were finishing up their meal and Ray was starting to feel more grounded, they heard a knock at the door. Nora and Ray looked at each other in confusion but Ray walked over to the door and cautiously opened it. </p><p>“Ray thank God! I was hoping you were still at this address. We need your help.” With the usual chaotic Legends energy, Sara burst through the door with Nate and Zari close behind. </p><p>“Buddy!” Nate threw himself on Ray, almost knocking him over. “How’ve you been? Hi Nora!”</p><p>“Guys! What are you doing here? Are you ok?” Ray hugged each of them tightly before snapping into protective mode. </p><p>“Look I tried Ray. I really tried.” Sara told him, frustrated.</p><p>“To be fair, she didn’t try very hard.” Zari threw in.</p><p>Sara shot her a look. “These two suck at trivia night. You think they’d be great right? Nate keeps shouting the answers before we can write them down and Zari questions everything I put down.”</p><p>“Sorry, you’re wrong half the time.” Zari rolled her eyes. “Ray, this apartment is adorable and fits you very well. And Nora, I’m glad to see you again.” Nora gave a little wave.</p><p>“She didn’t want to even bring us tonight but there was no way in hell that I’d let her come here without me.” Nate declared.</p><p>“And I guess I missed you guys too.” Zari added.</p><p>Ray felt the prickle in his eyes again. Nora slipped one hand into his and squeezed it. “I missed you guys too,” he told them, smiling.</p><p>“Anyways, are you guys around tonight? Please come save us and join. It has been a hellish week and this captain needs some free drinks and her drinking buddy.” Sara nudged him with a smile. There was the intensity in her eyes that Ray missed. She really did get competitive about trivia night.</p><p>Ray looked at Nora, who raised her eyebrows in amusement and joy. “Of course we’re in! Just give us a half-hour to clean up from dinner.”</p><p>“Ray,” Nora whined jokingly.</p><p>“Dude, it’s in Star City in like 20 minutes. We don’t have time for dishes.” Nate told him, rolling his eyes fondly. “Come on.” He started pulling Ray towards the door.</p><p>“You guys have a time ship. Why didn’t you come by with more time to spare?” Nora asked.</p><p>“They may have gotten lost a few times in this complex. A few of your neighbors definitely don’t like us much now.” Zari said, pulling Nora towards the door.</p><p>“I leave you alone for one month and all sense is out the window! It’s like I taught you nothing.” Ray teased, grabbing his coat and keys. Nora winked at him as though to say “I told you so.” He followed his friends and wife out the door, grinning wildly as he closed the door shut. The team still needed him, and he was so glad.</p>
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